Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency visited several undeclared nuclear facilities in Syria for the first time, including sites storing materials from the era of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Axios reports, UNN writes.
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IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that his team had visited the site of the former Al-Kibar reactor in Deir ez-Zor, where earthworks are under way. Inspectors also visited a facility near Damascus where several tons of natural metallic uranium are stored, as well as a site containing a large amount of graphite.
We agreed with the Syrian government that the undeclared materials would be inspected and placed under the Agency's standard safeguards measures
On July 17, the Syrian government informed the IAEA about the presence of nuclear materials and invited inspectors to conduct an inspection. The Agency is to carry out a full inventory of them.
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During Assad's rule, Syria secretly developed a nuclear program centered on the Al-Kibar reactor. Israel destroyed it in an airstrike in 2007.
At the same time, some facilities and storage sites remained. One of them, known as "Zone 99," had in recent years been under particular scrutiny from Israel and the United States because it may have stored materials linked to the Al-Kibar project.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said that the materials found would remain under Damascus's control and would be covered by IAEA safeguards during the inspection.